


With Your Shield

by nasal



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Angst, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Canon, Post-Season/Series 17, Tags Contain Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:01:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27797356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nasal/pseuds/nasal
Summary: When the dust settles and peace has been brought,To mothers and fathers whose children they taught:Come back victorious or come back dead.What choice is there for cowards misled?To flee or fight or freeze or fold,War lingers around us to stillness withhold,Return to our homes, our miserable packs,With nothing to show but the shields we brought back.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4





	With Your Shield

**Author's Note:**

> I am GROSSLY unprepared to write this story.  
> It'll be painful, it'll be sad, it'll have themes I have never explored, I have no idea why I'm doing this to myself.  
> I'll add tags as I go because I'm not sure how this story will end, BUT KNOW THIS: my goal is to make you cry. 
> 
> Enjoy.

Hey,

It's, uh, me.

I know it's been a while, hope Earth's treating you well, or whatever.

You probably won't hear this, I'm sure at this point you've blocked all our numbers and moved on, but this is the only contact number I have for you, and I figured you'd want to hear it from one of us rather than some shitty news channels. Worth a shot, just in case you haven't cut me off completely.

Ah, sorry, I'm not calling about that, fuck. Sorry, it's been a long day. I'm just gonna say it.

Sarge is dead.

Pancreatic cancer. Apparently, it was terminal and he didn't tell anyone. Grey said he refused treatment and just took meds for the pain, and they must have been the premium shit because I didn't notice a single goddamn thing the entire time. A whole year, fucking hell.

The night before, we'd argued over fucking nothing like always. Everything was fine, then the bastard keels over in his sleep for Donut to find in the morning. And I can't fucking remember the last thing he said to me.

Fuck, I'm— look, I'm not making this about me. I'm just trying to make sense of the shitshow. Donut can't pull himself together to string two sentences so I'm saving him the trouble and making the calls myself.

Chorus is having a memorial in a fortnight, it's gonna have everything. 21 gun salute, missing man formation, the works. I think Sarge was counting on special treatment because he had like, fifty fucking pages of insane requests. He wanted Kimball to declare his birthday a holiday, I shit you not. I’ve never seen her veto something so fast. Sarge is such a fucking hoot. Was.

Anyway, the funeral’s on Earth a week after the memorial, if you don't wanna make the trip here. Did you know Sarge was born in a small town in Iowa called Moscow? That's where it's gonna be.

I don't know if you'll get this message, but if you do, you should come. Figured you could help me and Donut lower the casket so that —and these are Sarge's words, not mine— ' _the idiots can let me down one last time._ '

And uh, yeah, that's it really.

If you want to contact us, nothing's changed. We're still in the same place, with the same people. Minus one.

So, um, see you maybe? I don't know.

Bye.

**Author's Note:**

> Wanted: a beta reader to slap me to my senses. God knows I'll need a second –or third– opinion.
> 
> My tumblr: [ Desvaríos Desviados](https://desvarios-desviados.tumblr.com/)


End file.
